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Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Interview with BAST

Sludgelord
HQ are pleased to be interviewing one of the hotly tipped bands of
2014 from the UK Extreme Metal Scene - BAST

Bast
music is a deadly mixture of Doom, Sludge, Black Metal and Hardcore.
Taking influence from bands such as Neurosis, Yob and Eagle Twin –
Bast are going to be one of the big bands to look out for in 2014.

Their
début album ‘Spectres’ is a co-release between Burning World
Records and Black Bow Records, the new label founded by Jon Davis of
Conan and, more recently, the man behind SkyHammer Studio. And what a
fucking album it is. This is what I called it earlier today:

“I
am going to say this now but SPECTRES is an AMAZING album. This is my
fave record of 2014 so far. Nothing will prepare you to the stunning
and brutal riffs that await you on Spectres. BAST are going to
destroy your world with this album with it's heavy and dangerous mix
of genre defying riffs...

Spectres
is a brilliant début album that shows Bast are on the verge of
greatness. Catch them while you can as these guys are going to be
huge in the years to come.”

You
need proof to see how good these guys are. Check out their BandCamp
Page and the list of bands they have toured with.

Now
that is one huge fucking impressive list of bands. We had to find out
more about from them.

So
let's see what BAST have to say to us here at Sludgelord HQ.

Q1
– Hi guys. How are you today? Thanks for doing this. Really
appreciate it. We are huge fans of Bast already at Sludgelord.

Thanks
for taking the time to talk to us.

Q2
– For people not in the know, can you give a brief history on how
the band came about and where it is today.

The
first iteration of Bast came about in 2008, following a tonne of
misguided childhood projects founded by our guitarist and drummer
(Craig – guitar/vocals & Jon – drums/vocals). We recruited
Gavin to perform bass duties in 2011 after a short stint as a
two-piece and a few line-up changes. This arrangement is the current
and permanent roster, with which we wrote and recorded Spectres.

Q3
– Now congrats on your new album – Spectres – and singing with
Burning World Records/Black Bow Records. How did that come about
singing with those two labels.

After
recording the album at Skyhammer Studio we were contacted by the
owner, Jon Davis, expressing his interest in releasing it on vinyl &
cassette through a label he was cooking up behind the scenes. We had
a huge list of potential labels, which we intended to spam the hell
out of, but the opportunity landed right in our lap.

The
wheels were set in motion before we had a chance to jump on the ball
with regards to a CD release, as Jon shot the record over to Jurgen
at Burning World who was keen to get involved. We've been pretty
lucky as a lot of things fell into place at the right time.

Q4
– Is it daunting to be the first band signed to Jon's label –
Black Bow Records. How did you get to work with Jon. Did he give you
any helpful tips or advice.

To
be honest, it isn't something we've given much thought to. Our
experiences at Skyhammer were very positive and we're very proud of
what we managed to achieve. Working with Chris and Jon was great fun
and the vibe was pretty relaxed.

Both
Jon and Jurgen have been supportive throughout and we definitely feel
like we're in safe hands.

Q5
– How would you describe your sound as you guys include a lot of
different noises, sounds and ideas. Doom, Sludge, Black Metal,
Hardcore to name just few or such.

You've
pretty much covered the majority of the styles that we're fans of.
It was clear from the onset that we'd never be a more focussed
genre band, and whilst drawing from every corner of extreme music,
our long term goal is to produce the most cohesive blend of the above
as is possible for us to achieve.

Q6
– Was Spectres a hard album to record for. And are you pleased with
the final result.

We
were adamant on recording with Chris Fielding being avid fans of the
catalogue of music to which he’s credited, to the extent of
foregoing other options during studio complications and his eventual
relocation from London to Skyhammer. Despite this, it was well worth
the wait and we didn't encounter any other problems recording-wise.
We had a long time to sit on the record and knew the material well,
so pretty much everything was recorded naturally, without a click, as
we wanted to capture a sound and feel representative of the tracks as
they're performed live. Needless to say, we're extremely happy with
the end result.

Q7
– The next question is from a friend of mine who has seen you guys
live in action. As I haven't had the opportunity yet. - What
gear and equipment do you use when performing as you guys have a
brilliant loud and violent sound that just crushes everything in
sight.

Guitar-wise,
we use a Les Paul Custom running through a JCM 2000 with a fairly
simple selection of pedals – Boss Delay, EQ & a Morley Wah.
It's not your conventional doom rig but gives a nice balance between
the sludgier low-end and gnarly treble. As for bass we are using a
custom EGC Series One running through a Gallien Krueger MB Fusion
500, with an array of effects (fuzz, synth, delay and other assorted
nasties). Other than a walnut Black Panther snare, our drummer uses a
Roland SPD-S for live samples/effects.

Q8
– What is the song writing process in the band. Is it a group
collective or is it down to one individual.

So
far our writing, particularly in regards to Spectres, has been a more
collective process. First, we tend to discuss a loose narrative or
story as a group surrounding a collection of songs as a whole, in
order to establish some kind of starting point or ideas to work from.
The main guitar riffs and sections will be written based on these
ideas, and then as we jam them out as a collective, a stronger
narrative is formed as we piece things together. As the bass and
drum parts develop, atmosphere and dynamics tend to evolve, and
lyrical themes and ideas will be introduced when things start
becoming more defined. The final stage is to simply play the hell
out of each song to allow any natural changes to occur.

Q9
– What is the whole concept of the album. Or do you want people to
find this out for themselves.

Essentially,
it follows the journey of a primitive man seeking wisdom within the
sacred caves of his forefathers. He descends into a cavern believed
to be inhabited by ancestral spirits in an attempt to seek out the
mysteries of the shamans who came before him.

To
us, it’s a short tale of isolation, the conquest of fear, and
ultimately, acceptance of hard earned truths. All formats of the
release will include lyrics in the liner notes, so we strongly urge
the listener to read them along with the record to draw their own
conclusions.

Q10
– How did you come up with the name Spectres for the album. And
what is the meaning behind it.

Spectres
is actually the first song we wrote for this album, and is the centre
of the whole record in theme and position in the track listing. The
writing for all other songs spread out from this point in both
directions - two songs on either side. It just seemed like a logical
step to choose this as the title for the record.

Q11
– Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians.

Too
many to mention. Other than the more obvious aforementioned
influences, we find ourselves drawing from everything - from 70s
psychedelic & progressive rock, grindcore & punk.

Q12
– What made you want to become a musician. Any particular group,
album or life changing event.

Freddie
Mercury.

Q13
– You have performed with some brilliant bands over your career so
far. Which bands have been your favourite to play with and the
reasons why.

It's
an ongoing source of pride for us to play with some of our favourite
bands such as Ufomammut, Nachtmystium and Winterfylleth, as well as
our buddies in Latitudes and Serpent Venom – two consistently
cracking bands and a bunch of nice guys to boot.

Q14
– Spectres is being released on Vinyl. Congrats on that and
especially on your début album as well. How did that come about. And
are you Vinyl Heads yourselves like us here at Sludgelord.

We
only expected an initial CD release and would have been quite content
with this, but we were very excited when we were offered a vinyl
release for our debut. We're extremely proud to be releasing the
album on pretty much every format going and hope that it will reach
as many people as possible, in their preferred medium. Who doesn’t
like vinyl?

Q15
– Are you all full time musicians or do you all have full time jobs

If
only. Currently we all have full time jobs and the band remains the
key project that takes up most of our spare time.

Q16
– In 5 words or less – describe the live BAST experience.

Such
doom. Many riff.

Q17
– The UK Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal scene is popular as it ever has.
Do you think the scene has reached it's pinnacle or do you think it
can get bigger and better.

The
amount of doom/sludge gigs, and people in attendance, has most
definitely increased since we started playing, as well as the amount
of bands starting up. Most promoters seem pretty dedicated to extreme
music as a whole, rather than throwing together line-ups that are
continually catered to a single sub-genre – styles will come in and
out of fashion, but the fans and people involved seem to be advocates
of everything heavy or experimental. We often see the same faces at
the different types of shows that we're lucky enough to play, be they
more centred around doom, stoner or black metal.

Q18
– If you could give advice to someone wanting to start a band. What
advice would you give them.

Q19
– You're about to go on an epic UK Tour with Conan in March 2014.
You guys looking forward to that one. What can people expect on that
tour.

Other
than ourselves and some devastating doom, compliments of Conan, all
of line-ups feature some seriously awesome bands from a fairly mixed
bag of metal – Indian (USA) in London, Corrupt Moral Altar in
Manchester, Witchsorrow & Ageless Oblivion in Basingstoke, Sea
Bastard in Bournemouth & Brighton, Spider Kitten in Cardiff and
Bismuth in Nottingham, to name but a few.

Q20
– Finally, Do you have anything to say to your fans.

Thanks
Mum.

Well
guys, thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it. Best of luck
with your début album.

Band Submissions & Budding Writers

Bands out there who want to be heard of the stoner, sludge, doom, psych, post-metal, experimental, black-metal, death metal persuasion get in touch. We will provide reviews (no guarantee) where possible and share your music at any available opportunity via social media.